Backlash against Miami Heat a boon for NBA

They walk 47 miles of barbed wire, they wear cobra snakes for neckties?

Actually, the Miami Heat does nothing of the sort; it’s a line in a Bo Diddley song.

Unfortunately for the Heat, the world has decided it’s evil, leaving LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Co. no course but to show, as Bo inspired in another song, they really are bad to the bone.

If the perception isn’t deserved, it’s a godsend for the NBA, which went years in its post- Michael Jordan era without villains to challenge heroes before finally lucking into a Lakers-Celtics revival.

Now it has the mother lode, with a third glamour team in Miami, taking notoriety to a new level.

For the first four seasons after Jordan left the Bulls in 1999, the Finals consisted of the Spurs or Lakers running over Eastern teams by a combined 16-4.

The 2003 Finals went six games, but it matched the Spurs, who were professional but not box office, and the New Jersey Nets, 49-33 nonentities scorned by Gotham fans living 10 miles away, and drew a worst-ever 6.5 TV rating.

In 2007 the Finals came in even lower, 6.2, as the Spurs swept Cleveland with a not-ready-for-prime-time James bricking the jump shots they gave him, shooting 36%.

Then something weird and wonderful happened: twin rebirths of the Lakers, turning fuming Kobe Bryant around ... and the Celtics, who were 24-58, drew the No. 5 pick in the Greg Oden-Kevin Durant draft, then pulled Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen out of a hat.

Within weeks of last spring’s Lakers-Celtics Game 7 — the top-rated NBA telecast since the MJ era —something else weird and wonderful happened, at least for the NBA.

It was on TV and got a big rating too, amid the derision.

It was ESPN’s “The Decision,” in which James announced he would join Wade and Bosh in Miami.

If 60 minutes of preening self-importance should have been enough to trash James’ glowing image, LeBron and his high school pal “marketing people” didn’t factor in two years of playoff disappointments, LeBron’s mere-mortal performance against the Celtics that spring, injured or not, and the backlash if the decision — made at the last moment — went against Cleveland.

Now James is in Miami with a chip the size of a redwood on his shoulder and road games are like holidays, starting with Tuesday’s opener ... in Boston.

Christmas will bring them to Staples Center to play the Lakers, who doubled prices for tickets, which are all gone.

Resellers are now offering them for $240 (upper deck behind the basket) to $21,776 (courtside).

Rejoicing in the excitement, Commissioner David Stern says it’s not “good guys and bad guys” but “some of the greatest basketball ever played.”

In any case, they’re all NBA guys and Stern’s teams get to keep the money.

However it turns out, it’s the best season (forecast) in NBA history.

mark.heisler@latimes.com